Washington has 3rd highest homeless population in US, federal report shows

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.

That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population.
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According to the HUD report, Washington state had the third largest homeless population in the country in 2024, with 31,554 people experiencing homelessness.

The report also states Washington had an increase of 4,295 individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness since last year, which is a 55.8% increase. That increase is the largest, by percentage, of any state in the country.

The HUD report shows Washington had 9,383 more individuals, a 360.5% increase, experiencing chronic homelessness since 2007.

Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Nearly 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year.

Disasters also played a part in the rise in the count, especially last year's catastrophic Maui wildfire, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were staying in emergency shelters in Hawaii on the night of the count.

Robert Marbut Jr., the former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021, called the nearly 33% increase in homelessness over the past four years “disgraceful” and said the federal government needs to abandon efforts to prioritize permanent housing.

The numbers also come as increasing numbers of communities are taking a hard line against homelessness.

Communities — especially in Western states — have been enforcing bans on camping as public pressure grows to address what some residents say are dangerous and unsanitary living conditions. That follows a 6-3 ruling earlier this year by the Supreme Court that found that outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment. Homeless advocates argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness.

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Chris Daniels

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